Forgive me
by HiddenStorys
Summary: Spencer/Aria Friendship. The one scene we never got. Takes place at the end of 7x19, Spencer forgives Aria and they mend their broken friendship


The one scene we never got.

So as many of you, I felt disappointed how the writers never gave us full closure of Aria's betray to Spencer, and we never got a Spencer and Aria seen where they made up. So this is for all of you, who wanted some Sparia friendship mending before the finale.

Spencer forgiving Aria. Because that interrupted scene in 7x18 was not enough.

Takes place at the end of 7x19, after the board game is finished.

Spencer and Aria talk and finally mend their broken friendship. (Tiny bits of Sparia romance if you squint)

...

The girls left the barn one by one, leaving the board game behind – hoping this would finally put an end to all the torture, the games, the lies. They wanted it to stop and go on with their lives. They hoped they could, but before they would do that, Spencer had to do one more thing.

"Aria?", Spencer called out just as Aria was about to leave the barn, too, and the smaller friend turned around to face her, an unanswered question lying behind her shining eyes.

"Can we talk?" Spencer felt the need to say something. She knew they had sort of let Aria back into their circle of sisterhood, of friendship, but she couldn't help but feel the need to reassure Aria that the special bond between them was not broken. Aria needed to know that Spencer had forgiving her, and Spencer needed to apologize to her about not having seen this coming. She should have noticed the way her best friend had distanced herself from the group, should have known that those dark circles under Aria's eyes were from crying herself to sleep at night and not from Ezra keeping her busy, she should have confronted Aria about the earring, should have tried to reach out to her. But Spencer hadn't. She had been to busy with her own drama, and she hadn't even seen the signs.

"Sure." Aria smiled shyly at her and sat down on the couch in the corner of the room. Walking over to join her on the couch, Spencer grew nervous. What if Aria was the one who wouldn't forgive Spencer because she basically treated their long term friendship like it wasn't even worth fighting for? What if it was too late to fix things? What if Aria had decided to move on from her and not look back?

They both sat in silence for a moment, enjoying the quiet for a while, as well as not wanting to say something that could damage something both of them treasured more than anything in their hearts.

"I'm sorry.", they said simultaneously and both let out a small chuckle when they realized the words had left their lips at the same time. They were always so in sync, it scared them sometimes. The friendship they shared was one of a kind, lightning in a bottle. And even though they had grown distant slightly, the five years apart having an huge impact on their former daily phone calls and sleepovers, they would still refer to each other as _best_ _friends_.

Aria's tone became more serious. "What are _you_ sorry for, Spence?!"

Her voice sounded confused, and Spencer, who smiled at the use of her nickname, shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't want for us to be this way, Aria. I don't like how things are right now, and I know you said you don't want us to say anything because for you it was enough to be part of the group again, but..." She let out a sigh, and blinked to not let the tear that shone behind her eyes fall. "Ezra was right. We are your friends. We should have been there for you. You had a difficult time. You made a _mistake_ , but how can we call ourselves _friends_ if we don't see past the mistakes we make?! Point is, Aria - We shouldn't have abandoned you. We should have been there for you, _with_ you. _I_ should have been there for you!", her voice grew louder and the tear she so desperately wanted to keep found its way down her warming cheek.

"Spencer.", Aria's voice was soft and Spencer closed her eyes briefly as Aria wiped away the tear from Spencer's face that had finally fallen. "I'm the one who is sorry. I told AD I couldn't do it.", she put her head down, feeling ashamed. "I didn't want to hurt you, guys. _Especially_ not you. You have been through so much this past year and I couldn't bring myself to ever hurt you, but I was scared and then there was that file and AD breathing down my neck and I snapped. I am sorry I ruined your family, Spencer.", she was crying now, tears falling down her cheeks and her voice shook with every word. Out of habit, Spencer grabbed one of Aria's shaking hands in hers, covering it with both hands and squeezing it softly, urging her to continue. "Back there, in the park, when I saw your eyes and you were telling me how we were _done_. It hurt. It hurt more than any break up I ever experienced, and more than any threat A has ever sent me. I felt like I was being punched in the face and like my heart had been ripped out and I knew I had to make it up to you, all of you. And then you came over. _You_ came _to_ _me_. And I was so extremely grateful, so happy, and we talked, and you showed me that picture of us and I could see the hurt in your eyes too clear, but I felt like we were going somewhere and then Tanner ruined all of it." Spencer nodded, not caring that more tears had been falling since Aria had started telling her side of the story and she held Aria's gaze in hers.

"I wanted to make this all go away. I wanted to make up for it, but somehow AD wouldn't let me and then, when I found Archer's body in the trunk of my car, I wanted to turn myself, but - "  
"What?!", interrupted Spencer loudly. "Are you insane, Aria?", she scolded like an older sister and her brows furrowed together as more tears welled up. She ignored the fact, that she too wanted to turn herself in at some point, but Emily had been right back then, it would have done no good. And Aria wanting to do that because she felt like it was the only way they would have ever forgiven her, made Spencer realize how far Aria had been pushed to the edge, how Spencer had let it happen to go this far. "Tell me you are not this stupid!", she yelled out. Anger flashed through her veins, and shone brightly in her eyes. Spencer was furious and Aria wanted to scoop a little further away, trying to give her some distance, but Spencer was having none of that and pulled her without warning into a bone crushing hug, sobbing quietly as she spoke, holding Aria for dear life, and promising herself she wouldn't let their friendship go down this dark road ever again.

"What did you think of? Did you honestly think we wouldn't care if you went to jail? Did you really think _I_ would have let you go through with it?", she shook her head. "How did we get here?" Her voice was softer now, but Aria had to really pay attention to even hear what she was saying. Spencer still hadn't let go of her, and even though the tight grip was hurting a little, Aria wouldn't trade this moment for anything else.

"I'm sorry, Spence. I love you. All of you. Leaving my parents and Mike out for a sec, you girls and Ezra are the people I care most about in this world. You have become a second family, a second _home._ But when I betrayed you like that, I couldn't help but feel like I didn't deserve you anymore, like I needed to be punished for hurting the people I loved most. I betrayed my _closest_ friend. I betrayed _you_. And I just wanted – no _needed_ – for you to forgive me, so I thought -", Spencer's hand abruptly covered Aria's hand as to prevent her from speaking any further.

"I'm sorry, you felt like you couldn't speak to us, to me about this. You were right, I did make the same mistake back then in high school, and I am sorry I did that, I never truly apologized for the things I've done to you, and somehow you forgave me without even squinting, like there wasn't anything to forgive. You understood, unconditionally and I'm sorry I couldn't do the same. It hurt. Seeing you in that hoody, it brought me back to Toby being A, and it hurt because I care so much about you and our friendship, and I didn't know what to think anymore. But I know now, that you didn't have a choice. I might not agree with what you did, and I might not understand how you could choose him over us - but I guess I would've done the same for Toby, I guess I already did. I think it's time for me to understand that no matter how much I disapprove of Ezra he is going to be there no matter what, and that I have to deal with him if I want you in my life. I just don't want his problems to have such a weight on you. I don't like seeing you hurt, and Ezra being the reason for all of this, it made me angry. I'm sorry, I'm rambling. I just - I guess I need to understand that he is your new best friend now and that hurts, a little, but it's okay."

"Spence.", Aria's hand rested on the taller girl's cheek, searching for her eyes and when she found them she looked deeply into them.

"Ezra being in my life, does not mean that I love you any less. You and I - we've been through so much not even he understands. You are the one person who knows me better than anyone else, better than Ezra. I don't want you to ever feel less important, okay? I love Ezra, and I'm going to marry him, but that will not mean, I will forget about you, or leave you behind - okay? I am always going to be there for you, no matter what."

"I know.", she sniffled then, wiping away more tears. "I just - I hate to admit it, Aria, but I feel so alone. Emily has got Alison, Hanna has Caleb, and you've got Ezra and somehow I'm all alone. My parents are getting a divorce, which is good I guess, but I just feel like my whole world is crashing. My dad is going to leave, Mary is leaving me, Toby left me - and now you guys are going to leave me, too. I'm sorry. I'm being ridiculous." And even though Spencer wanted to stop crying, she couldn't hold back the loud sobs that continued to leave her and the only thing holding her together, were Aria's arms around her broken frame.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you felt that way, Spencer. I am always going to be there for you, okay? I promise you. You are not alone. I'm here. I'm always going to be here for you." Aria cradled her like a small child, moving around on the couch so she could shift Spencer's weight down and cradle her head into her lap. She let her fingers run through the dark locks of her best friend and whispered loving and kind words into her ear to calm her down.

For Spencer it felt like she had finally said out loud what she had been bottling inside of her for all these months. It felt good to have finally let herself be honest with herself. And she was thankful for Aria being there with her to catch her. She didn't think she would have confessed to anyone else the way she was feeling, the way she was breaking.

"I'm going to stay with you tonight, okay?" Aria would talk to Ezra, knowing he would probably not approve of her choice, but she wouldn't let Spencer believe she was alone in this world for one more second. It was time she took responsibly for her friends and it was time she showed Spencer how important she was to her.

"Ezra?", Spencer mumbled, but tightened her grip on Aria's hand, feeling anxious she was going to be alone again.

"Don't worry. He will understand. I will make him understand."

"Thank you." Spencer was glad she had Aria back where she belonged, in her life, and she vowed she would do anything in her power to not let her leave it again.

"Thank you. For forgiving me." Aria kissed Spencer's hair, continuing to comfort her normally strong and confident friend by running her fingers over her reddened cheeks, wiping away the last remains of tears that laid there.

"I do. I do forgive you. I _forgive_ you, Aria. I _always_ will. We're Team Sparia. You cannot break that apart that easily, not even A or AD or anybody else . It's _forever_."

" _Forever._ " Aria smiled and Spencer sat up, the need to hug her tiny friend again overpowering the exhaustion she felt. The smaller girl snuggled into the warmth of their embrace, feeling Spencer's heartbeat as they reversed roles. Now it was Spencer, whose fingers softly ran through Aria's short hair, down her back, making small circles as to calm her down, as Aria was now whimpering quietly, grateful that they fixed this. She had never felt so safe and relieved at the same time.

"I love you, little big one." Aria felt Spencer kiss her head for a second and she grinned, lifting their still intertwined hands and placing a soft kiss on Spencer's knuckles. Everything was going to be okay. The game was over, but this – her and Spencer's friendship would go on for eternity.

"I love you too, Spence."

…

Hope you liked it and it gave some of you some closure!

Send some words. :)

And if you haven't - Also check out my other PLL story - Aftermaths :)


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